There is an ongoing need for safer vehicles in the automotive context. In this regard various developments have been made in air bag technology. As a result, many contemporary vehicle designs incorporate a variety of air bag systems at various locations within the vehicle.
One common location of air bag placement is on the driver side, facing the area where the driver's knees will be situated. In cars and light trucks, a generally horizontal steering column is typically situated therein. As a result, the knee air bag system may be conveniently located beneath the steering column. In such a design, the knee air bag system including the air bag itself, the propulsion system, and its mounting bracket, typically extends the length of the driver side compartment. As a result, a single air bag may be utilized that, when deployed, will protect both of the driver's knees.
Unfortunately, heavy truck type vehicles, e.g. class 8 trucks, buses, heavy equipment such as cranes, large cargo vehicles, large recreational vehicles, etc. typically incorporate a generally vertical steering column. As a result, a single knee air bag system such as the like described above cannot be utilized, as the steering column due to its generally vertical presentation interferes with the space required for such a single air bag system. As a result, the aforementioned heavy truck type vehicles typically do not incorporate any knee air bag system, or if they do, their mounting is quite complex and rigid and has led to knee injury. Indeed, even after air bag deployment in such systems, it has been found that there is a risk that continued forward movement of the knees can result in knee injury when the knees encounter the air bag mounting structure.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a knee air bag mounting configuration that prevents such injury by absorbing some of the force caused by forward movement of the driver's knees against the air bag through deformation of the air bag mounting configuration.
The invention provides such a mounting configuration. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.